This week will see the end of the regular season for basketball players. The Blackhawks will be having two road games as the lead in to the district tournament.
The ‘Hawks played at Farmington last (boys and girls) with the respective squads heading off on the long trip to Ozark this coming Friday. The Blackhawks are coming off two wrenching close losses to Gravette and Berryville in the pursuit of higher seedings for the district tournament which begins next week at Gravette.
It looks like Shiloh will have the No. 1 seed with Gravette, Pea Ridge and Berryville fighting it out for the next three. The importance of gaining the top two seeds is that it guarantees advancement into the regional tournament (1 and 2 seeds are automatic district semifinalists) and most usually means that the two seeds will get a lesser opponent to earn a state tournament berth.
Of course, teams like last year’s Gravette girls team blew up the system as they took their No. 6 district seed well into the state tournament, so you never know. This year’s regional tournament will be held in Ozark with the top four teams from the 4A-1 and the top four from the 4A-4. The 4A-4 include the Clarksville Panthers which boasts the fabulous Lee family.
With four Lee boys on theroster, the Panthers have been beating up on just about everybody south of a 7A status. Assuming they win their district tournament, they will take on our district’s fourth seed.
The district is like a kind of progressive tournament with your conference finish determining how many times you play.
Third and fourth seeds draw a bye into the quarterfinals and first and second seeds draw a bye into the semifinals. Fifth and eighth seeds play to see who will play the No.
4 seed while sixth and seventh seeds play off for the right to face the No. 3 seed. Having a good conference record does prove to be advantageous oftentimes, but everyone does have a shot at going on.
Both the Pea Ridge girls and boys teams have proven that they can play with anyone when they play at their best. The boys have been in the top four all season and could credibly be a threat make the district finals. While the girls have three of the top teams in the state in the district, they have a legitimate shot to get to the semi-finals which would gain them a regional berth. The top teamin the 4A-4 for the girls is Pottsville. While the Apaches are a good team, they would finish fourth in the 4A-1.
The regional will begin Wednesday Feb. 22nd in Ozark with the top district seeds playing the 4th seeds. The state tournament begins the following Wednesday in Pine Bluff at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. The facilities there are great and the Razorbacks have hosted major colleges such as North Carolina there in the past.
State rankings
I could not locate enough data to formulate the current district standings but I do have the latest poll from the MaxPreps/Freeman CBS High School Poll which just came out Monday.
Both the boys and girls teams have fought for and earned respectable rankings with a chance to go higher with district play around the corner.
Girls state rankings
Prairie Grove
Pulaski
Farmington
Malvern
Waldron
Bauxite
Shiloh
Pottsville
Nashville
Batesville SS
Ozark
Pea Ridge
Gentry
Gravette
Berryville
Boys state rankings
Clarksville
Pulaski
Osceola
Westside
Heber Springs
Valley View
Dollarway
Pocohontas
Trumann
Gravette
Shiloh
Berryville
Pea Ridge
Ozark
Farmington
Prairie Grove
Gentry Boys (and girls) of summer on horizon
With the Super Bowl and the last vestige of football just ending, whadya know but that we’re less than a month away from the opening of baseball/softball season.
It’s all set to begin for our diamond troops on March 1 as we host both the Gentry girls softball team and the Gentry boys baseball team in our home and season opener. The boys will be playing a 17-game schedule with district playoffs set to begin April 26. The ladies have a 16-game, two-tournament schedule with their district also set for April 26.
With the new indoor field facility online, hopefully it might prove to be a secret weapon in helping the diamond athletes become better prepared as they can avoid having practices in cold, miserable conditions or in a cramped gym. Havinggreat facilities isn’t everything but it is something.
Are the Razorbacks on the cusp of national domination?
I got to looking around the Razorback pages and it struck me how really solid their overall athletics program has become.
Some are rating the Hogs football team a squad with a shot at a national championship next season, and the basketball boys with Mike Andersons’ steady tutelage considered a program on the rise to the top. With the women’s gymnastic team ranked No. 1 in the country recently, along with the men’s track team, things are looking up.
Rumors are that baseball coach Dave Van Horn has the squad that might make a serious bid for a College World Series championship.
It seems that all the programs are winning, the facilties altogether may be second to none, and the upward television exposure may be bringing in even more athletic recruits. I think it probably goes without saying that the current staff of Razorback coaches are the best in the school’s history.
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Editor’s note: John McGee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports, Pages 8 on 02/08/2012